#Migration crisis in Germany: Can a refugee-friendly policy cause a terrorist threat?

As the refugee crisis in Europe continues to gain its pace, Germany seems to have lost its grip on refugee resettlements control, writes Olga Malik.

Sexual attacks in Cologne followed by assaults on women in Kiel and Nuremberg, fights and unrests within refugee camps have made local residents experience a new reality full of brutality and aggression. However, single crime incidents might be the lesser evil compared with the growing terrorist threat of the poorly controlled refugee camps in Germany and all over the EU.

Snowball effect

Uncontrolled refugee camps continue their expansion across the EU. Only in Germany the new refugee camps for immigrants from Syria and Iraq are yet to appear in 2016. However, with the understaffed police in Germany it is almost impossible to expect a proper control of the refugees benefiting from this chaotic situation. Being less vulnerable and policed members from IS and IS-allied groups can easily penetrate to Germany causing an obvious danger and terrorism threat to the EU.

However, while the German authorities are not publicly announcing the information about newly-appearing refugee resettlements to avoid public fear and anger, the new mini-spots for refugees in outskirts of the German cities with the number of immigrants getting beyond the government control. The snowball effect of chaotic migration flows has proved its incredible danger in other parts of the world. The best example of this can be the uncontrolled Afghan settlements in Northern Pakistan which were the beginning of Taliban.

What’s next?

Earlier this year the German society was split apart on the question of way of dealing with refugees. While conservatives supported the government’s idea to erase valuables from arriving refugees in order to compensate the budget expenses and implement compulsory integration of refuges, supporters of social democratic movement proclaimed more “civilized” approach. Nevertheless the majority from both blocks agreed on Chancellor Merkel’s failure to manage the migration crisis. Merkel’s public speeches assuring the government would be able to cope with uncontrolled refugee flows gained much less support and trust from the public. The public outrage reached its peak after the mass sexual assaults on women in Cologne on the New Year’s Eve.

According to the local social activist Markus Lehmann, the continuous unrest among refugees and inability of government authorities to manage the migrant crisis may be fatal for Germany as well as entire Europe. The recent terrorist attack in the Brussels airport that shrugged the entire European Union was a perfect example of it, the activist said.

But not welcoming refugees is not a solution. Most of the times it is not refugees who cause terrorist threats but the local residents who carry radical ideas in minds and use refugees as a perfect tool to reach their goals. Many refugees from the war-raged environments are well-educated persons representing the middle class of their homelands. They have proved their ability to adopt the EU values, learn a new language and even add to the economic development of the EU. Perhaps a better control and smart use of so-called “soft power” to trace the refuge flow would help to avoid a growing terrorist threat I Europe.

Olga Malik is an independent journalist and political writer.

Share this article: